Rail fissure detector



lJune 6, 1933. H. c. BRAKE y 1,912,569

RAIL FISSURE DETECTOR I Find March is, 195o y Y 2 sheets-sheet 1 z INVENTOR d; /farggzzri Cme.

VJune 6, 1933. H. c. DRAKE 1,912,569

I RAIL FISSURE DETEQTORV I Filed March 18, 195o 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVENT Patented` lJune i 6; 1933 y UNITED STATES PATENr oFFicE HARCOURT C. F HEMPSTEAD, NEWJYORK, ASSIGNORIVBY ESNE Y.ASSIGN- MENTS,'TO SPERRY PRODUCTS, INC., OF BROOKLYN, NE'WYYORK, CORPORATION 0F .NEW Yonx .RAIL FISSURE DETECTOR Application filed MarchlS,

This invention ,relates to improvements in rail fissure detectors of the type adapted to' belmounted on a moving car. The fact that the ydetector iscontinuously moved over the *railsy creates a multiplicity of problems Which-it iszthe purpose `offthis invention to solve.

' 3 `on a railwhere affssure occurs. It has been `More"'sp'eciiicaflly it is one object of this invention.'tofinsure operation of the paint gu'nwhich .is employed'ior` marking the spot found` inpractice that the verylshort ener- -.gization,of the detecting mechanism caused.

bythe .relatively rapidl movement of the detector mechanism over a fissure Wassome- V`times insufficient to vactuatethe p aint gun operating mechanism. By vmy..1nvent1on such operation is insured.. f It is a' furtherobject of my invention to provide means for'preventing operatlon of passes over thevrailfjoints. I accomplish this function without preventing actuation of the usual recorder onl the recording chart for indicating rail joints. For this purpose I employ a Vmechanical"means designed to engage the angle Abar which connects the rails at the joints. I provide means also for insuring that.the paint gun will` not be `operated until the recording mechanism has passed com `letelybeyond the'said angle bar. In the perriy detector mechanism, to which this invention applies, current of very high amperage is led into the rail and passes out of said railat a point removed from the point of entrance. In orderV to insure good contact of the contact brushes, said brushes have been pivotally mounted in the support- 'ing carriage and spring pressure has been applied .to them.` It has been found, however, that when the springv pressure is increased substantially it tends to -lift the brushes oi the rail and so defeat the purpose for which' the spring pressure was intended. It is an obect of my invention, therefore,l to-` provide auxiliary means for holding the brushes in'iirm contact with the rail., This means `may take the form of.

hydraulic orair prssure means designed to beappliedto the y ush holders for olding :brushes than from the outlet brushes. the paint; gun whenthe detector mechanism 1930. Serial No. 436,660.

the brushes in firm contact with vthe rail.

.Such pressure may act against the action of tobuild up magnetic iiux around the rail a f suiiicientV time must'be0 allowed for the currentv to/pass into the rail. I, therefore, provide for spacing the contact brushesade-- quately so that the time :of passage of the current from Vthe inlet brushes to the outlet brushes will be suiiicient to 'permit a magdistance further removed from the inlet Heretofore the paint gun has been mounted on the car'body and this has resulted in the wiping oi of the gun by obstructions in the path of travel of the car. By myinvention I propose to mount the paint gun on the 4netie'lux to .be built up around the rail. Fui-ther, vI position the detector brushes a contact brush' holder whichlis lifted to a protected inoperative position when obstructions are met.

It is a further object of my invention to mount the paint gun suiiiciently behind the detector brushes to compensate for the speed of the car and thetime lag ofthe paint gun operating mechanism.

Still another object of my invention is to mount the detector sled on the brush holder by means which will permit a universal movement of the sled within a limited range so that the sled may align itself with the rail head and maintain a position parallel to the d lrail head surface.

' It is a further object of this inven 'on to tact 'with the rail head in spite of irregu' Vlarities in thesurface to 'a greater degree .than

vmount the detector sled on means such as Y was possible heretofore with the ordinary i 'type of rollers.

A further objea of this invention is to mount the detector coils in such manner that the distance of said coils with respect to the rail head surface will be substantially constant. For this purpose I propose a pivotal nllomting of the detector coils in the detector s e Still another object of this invention is the provision of means for effecting quick contact engagement. of the -current conducting brushes when it is desired to make a hand test of a portion of the rail in which a flaw is suspected.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent in the following detailed description:

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a Sperry detector car, showing generally the location of the principal-elements of-the detector mechanism.-

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail, partly sectioned vertically, of a portion of the contact brush holder and detector mechanism.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detailed viewl of the detector sled disclosing its universal mounting. l

Fig. 4 is a section taken substantially on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 disclos ing a' modified form of roller.

Fig. Gis a detailed View of the detector sled showing a modified form ofmounting the detector coils.

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view disclosing the means for preventing operation of the paint gun when theo detector mechanism passes over rail joints.

Fig. 8 is a View, largely diagramnnltic. disclosing vthe means for effecting a rapid engagement of the current supply contacts for hand testing. c

Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail of a hand clamp for effecting engagement of one current supply contact of Fig. 8 with the rail.

Fig. 10 is a View, sectioned vertically, disclosing a modified form of means for causing the detector coils to maintain a fixed relationship )Vith respect to the rail head sur` face.

Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 10 of still another modified form of device for effecting the same purpose.

Fig. 12 is an enlarged sidel elevation of the form of device disclosed in Fig. (i.

Referring to Fig. l. there is shown a Sperry rail detector car l() having a contact brushl carriage or holder 1l and a detector sled 12 supported on said holder 11. The. contact brushes 13-14 carried hy the contact brush holder 1l are designed to lead high amperage current into the rail and the. coils -in the detector sled are designed to pick up any varia.-

\ tions in flux' caused by flaws and transmit the same through an amplifier to a. recording mechanism as dlsclosed 1n the patent of Elmer A. Sperry, No. 1,820,505, granted August 25, 1931. The amplifying means is also designed to energize a mechanism for operating a paint-gun 15 for squirting paint upon the rail at the point where a flaw or fissure is detected hy the detector mechanism. To insure operation of the paint gun 15 when passing over a rail flaw or fissure, regardless of the speed of the car or the smallness of the flauw, I provide the mechanism disclosed in Fig. 7. The normal paint gun operating mechanism is shown as comprising an` electromagnet 20 energized from the amplifying system, said l-nagnct attracting its armature 21 to close a set of contacts 22, thus'energizing electro-magnet 23 which .attracts its armature 24 to actuate a recording pen. The closing of contacts 22 also energizes electromagnet 25 which attracts its armature 2G to close the circuit through electro-magnet 27, which then attracts its armature 28 to close contacts 29. This permits full voltage from a main supply Vsource of 110 volts to be applied to an electro-magnet 30 which attracts its armature 31 to operate a-valve 32 to permit air pressure to pass into pipe 33 and discharge paint from gun 15 on the track.

In order to insure operation of the paint Vgun when passing over a-flaiv, I provide an 'at the same time as winding 25. When the detector mechanism has passed overthe Haw and contacts 22 open to deenergize coil 25, coil 25v will still he energized because it will be seen that it has an independent circuit extending through armature 2G, contacts 26 and the conductor to the negative side of the line. Once coils 25 and 25 are energized, therefore, ycoil 25 will ll'oldI the armature 26 to maintain the circuit through coils 27 and l() until armature 28 has been fully drawn down to open contacts 29 and thus break the circuit through electro-magnet 25. The full movement of armature 28, however, insures the operation of the paint gun.

Referring to the same Fig. 7, I have disclosed also a means f or preventing operation of the said paintV gun 15 when the detector mechanism passes overa rail joint, since obviously magnetic flux variation, due to a rail joint, would tend to operate the paint gun operating mechanism in the Sallie manner as a flaw or fissure within ,the rail. For this purpose I provide a mechanically pivoted lever 40 'so supported as to engage the angle har at the side ofthe rail and connecting the two rails at the joint. As lever 40 engages thc angle bar it closes a set of contacts 41 to energize coils 42 and 43 to open contacts 44 and close. contacts 45. The opening of contacts 44 prevents energization of electro-magnet 25 and 25 and hence of the circuit through magnet 27 and magnet 30, While the closing of contacts 45 closes the circuit through electro-magnet 51 to actuate the armature 52 which operates the joint recordingpen on the chart. The opening of'contacts 44 serves also to break the circuit through coil 23 so that. the fissure-recording pen will not be actuated when the detector passes over a rail- ]oint. ,Y y

Since the lever 40 would normally disen-` gage the angle bai' before the detector sled has passed beyond the rail joint, I provide a second lever 40 so positioned with respect to lever 40 that it will engage the angle bar before lever 40 has left the bar to close a set of contacts 41 in parallel Withcontacts 41 to perform the same function and continue the action of contacts 4l in preventing operation of the paint gun l5 until the 'letectorsled has passed entirely beyond the. rail joint.

Referring to Fig. 2, I have shown the contactbrush holder l1 and the brushes 13 which are in the form of pivoted levers 55 whose upper ends are spring-pressed by springs 56 to cause the brushes 13 to engage the rail head surface firmly. The pressure necessary to iusure firm contact of lthe contacts 18 was found to be suflicient to lift the entire con tact brush holder off the rail. I, therefore, provide positively actuated means for maintaining the Contact brush holder in lowered position and the current supplyeontacts 13 in firm engagement with the rail. Such means may take the form of an air cylinder 60 in'which operasa piston 61 having a rod 62 pivotally connected `to the-brush contact holder at 63.y Air or fluid pressure may b'e ,employed to force the piston downwardly when it is desired to lower the contact brush holder into engagement with the rails and to maintain the contacts firmly in'engagement with the rails. If desired, the cylinder 60 may be aktive-Way cylinder so that fluid pressure may be used not merely to lowerv the vcontact brush holder but'also to raise the `same to inoperative position. I provide further means whereby the said fluid-operated piston may `be controlled either from the drivers compartment or from the operators compartment. For this purpose I' have shown an electrically operated air valve 65 with switches 66 and 66 located in the drivers and operators compartments respectively, said'switches having parallel connection to the electrically operated air valve.

It has been found-that a certain interval of time is necessary in order to build up the magnetic flux around the rail. I have found that this result can `be effected by spacing the current supply contact brushes 13 land 14 a substantial distance and then positioning thedetector sled further removed from the front or inletsupply brushes and nearer the rear brushes 14. This positioning of the detector sled. relative to the sets of current supply brushes. is

`essential in any case regardless of the distance between the sets of brushes. This relaevery point as the car proceeds.

in Fig. 2, this is impossible and the paint gun is at all times maintained in a safe position.

Referring to the same Fig. 2, it Will be observed that thev paint gun 15 is mounted a certain distance behind the detector sled 12.

I This distance is so proportioned that the y speed of the car` and the lag in operation of the paint gun operating mechanism will be compensated for by the distance which the paint gun 15 must travel before reaching the flaw picked up by the sled 12.

The detector sled should maintain its parallelism with the surface of the rail head if the indications or variations in magnetic flux are to be reliable. Since, however, the rail head surface is of varying contour, I provide for corresponding variations 4of the sled 12 as the detector mechanism passes over the rail. The detector coils are shown at 12 fixed to a carriage 7 0 which is mounted in a 'constitute the sled 12. The support 70 is mounted on means such as rollers 72 in Fig. 3

f'or skis 74 in Fig. 2, and instead of mounting said support rigidly'in the carriage 71, I pro-. vide a jointwhich allows universal movement within predetermined limits so that the support 70 can freely take up the position corresponding to the contour of the rail head at ingmay include stems 75 carried by support 70 and extending freely through bushings 7G in the, support 71, said stems carrying bolts 77 at their upper ends. Springs 78 normally maintain the support 70 spaced from carriage 71, but it Will be seen that this mounting permits universal movement within cer tain prescribed limits.

The support 70 of Fig. 3 may he provided with rollers 79 as shown in Fig. 4, or more preferably with grooved rollers. such as 80, having two spaced supporting edges 81-82 so that the wheel 80may accommodate itself rail head surface.

Amore readily to the varying ,contour ofthe This mount- If desired, I may replace the rollers 79--80 I by skis 74 of Fig. 2 which will also accom- 'modate themselves freely to th-e varying contours of the rail head surface.

For insuring the maintename of a fixed distance between the detector coils and hthe rail head surface regardless of the contour of said surface, I may utilize the form of invention disclosed in Fig. 6 wherein the Iaus detector coils 12 are carried at the ends of levers 8f3 pivoted on the carriage 85. The levers are spring pressed into engagement with `the rail surface by springs 86 and will obviously move about their pivots as the surface of the rail head varies. This form of mounting is disclosed in larger view in Fie. l2.

In Fig. 10, I have shown still another mount-ing for the detector coils to insure a constant distance between the coil and the surface of therail head. In this form a block .90 is pivoted at 91 on the ends of lever arms similar to arms 83 and in said block are independently supported rollers 92 and the detector coil 12".

In Fig. 11 there is shown still another modified form for performing the same function as the Fig. 1() device, but in this case the detector coil 12 surrounds the shaft 94 which rotates with the rollers 95, the whole system being supported in a pivoted member 90.

In Fig. 8, I have disclosed a means whereby I am enabled to effect a rapid attachment of current supply contacts to the rail head when it is desired to make a hand test for flaws. The two contact members are shown at 13-14, the former being directly beneath the car while the latter is usually some distance therefrom. The contact 13 may be moved downwardly into engagement with the rail head surface by means of an air cylinder 95 controlled from within the car by a valve handle 96, the piston Within the cylinder 95 having a piston rod 96 attached to the block 13. The contact 14 may be in the form of a hook 97 which is designed to be anchored over the rail head as shown in Fig. 9 by means of a handle 98 and a second hook 99, pivoted on the fixed frame, is designed to be. swung beneath the rail head when the handle 98 is moved up to vertical position by means of a cam 100 which engages one side of the hook lever 99.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have herein described the principle and operation of my invention, together With the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, buntl I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative and that the invention can be carried out by other means. Also, while it is designed to use the various features and elements. in the combination and relations described, some of y"these may be altered and others omitted withmove over the rails for detecting rail flaws,

saidI means including means for passing current through the rail, a carriage adapted to engage the rail, a detector coil supported by said carriage adjacent the rail, and a support for said carriage including a universal mounting.

2. In combination, a means adapted to move over the rails for detecting rail iaws,

said means including means for passing current through the rail, a carriage adapted to engage the rail, a detector coil supported by said carriage adjacent the rail, and a support for said carriage including a resilient universal mounting permitting universal movement to a limited degree.

3. In combination, a means adapted to move over the rails for detecting rail fiaWs, said means including means for passing current through the rail, a carriage having skis, adapted to engage the rail, a detector coil supported by said carriage adjacent the rail, and a support for said carriage including a universal mounting.

4. In combination, a means adapted' to move over the rails for detecting rail flaws, said means including means for passing current through the rail, a carriage adapted to engage the rail, a detector coil supported by said carriage adjacent the rail, and a support for said carriage, said carriagev being pivotally mounted in said support whereby said detector coil is maintained in lixed relation with the rail head surface.

5. In combination, a means adapted to move over the rails, said means including an electric current generator, brushes adapted to engage the rails for supplying current thereto and detecting means out of contact with the rail for detecting variations in the flux around the rail, said detecting means being spaced suiiciently from said inlet current brushes to permit the molecules of the rail to align themselves for proper polarity.

6. In combination, a means adapted to move over the rails for detecting rail flaws,

said means including an electric current generator, front and rear brushes through f which' the current is adapted to enter and leave respectively, said brushes being adapted tol engage -the rail, and detecting means out of contact with the rail for detecting variations in the magnetic flux around the rail, said last-named means being positioned nearer the rear brushes than the front brushes to .permit the molecules of the4 rail to alignl themselves for proper polarity.

. 7. In combination, a'means adapted to move over the rails Vfor detecting rail flaws, said means including an electric current generator, front and rear brushes through which the current isvadapted to enter and leave 'respectively, said brushes being adapted to engage the rail, and detecting means outof` contact with the rail for detecting variations in the magnetic .flux around the rail, said last 8. In combination, meansadapted to move over the rails for detecting rail aws, said means including an electric current genergage the rail to lead current into and the rail, a plurality of detector coils, and

, the railto maintain stant distance above the rail surface.

ator, a current brush carriage adapted to en gage the rail to lead current into and out of the rail, a detector carriage adapted to engage the rail andsupporting a detector mech-` anism .out of contact with the rail, and means whereby said detector carriage is mounted for movement independent vof said current brush carriage.

9. In combination, means adapted to move over the rails for detecting rail iaws, said means including an electric current generator, a current brush carriage adapted to en- Gage the rail to lead current into and out of ghe rail, a detector carriage adapted to engage the rail and supporting a detector mechanism out of Contact with the rail, vandmeans whereby said detector carriage is mounted on said current brush carriage for movement independent thereof.

10. In combination, means adapted to move over the rails for' detecting rail iaws, 'said means including an electric current generator, a current brush carriage adapted to engage the` rail to lead current-into and out of the rail,` al detector carriage adapted toengage the rail and supporting a detector mechanism out of contact with the rail, and means whereby usaid detectorcarriage is mounted on said currentbrush carriage for universal movement independent thereof. l1. In combination,` means adapted -to move over the rails for detecting rail laws, said means including an electric current generator, a current brush carriage adapted to engage the'rail to' lead current into and out of the rail, a plurality of detector coils, and means whereby said 4coils are supported for independent movement on said carriage.

12. vIn combination, means adapted to move over the rails for detecting rail iiaws, said means including an electric current generator, a current brush carriage adapted to en out o means whereby said coils are supported for independent movement on said carriage, each of said coils havingi eans adapted to engage Iiillie axis of the coil a con- 13. In 'ccmbinatio'm' means adapted to move over the-rails for detecting rail flaws, said means including an electric'current gen-l erator, a current brush 'carriage adapted `to engage the rail to lead current into and out of the rail, a plurality of detector coils, and means whereby said coils are supported on said carriage forindependent movement,

each of said coils having a roller adaplted e co1 engage the rail whereby the axis of t is moved relative 4to said carriage to mainain a constant distance above the rail surace.' y g 14. 'In combination, means adapted to move over the rails for detecting rail iaws, said means including an electric current generator, a current brush carriage adapted to engage .the rail to lead current into and outv of the rail, a detector carriage comprising a plurality" of detector coils mounted thereon for independent movement, each of said coils having means adapted to engage the rail to maintain the axis of the coil a constant distance above the rail surface, and-means whereby said detector carriage is mounted on said current brush carriage for independent universal movement. In testimony whereof I signature.

have aiixed my ,HARCOURT c, DRAKE. 

